Chapter 2403 Green Terror

This "short message" was sent by Mr. Ted Pinkerton, a private detective whom we have not been in contact with for a long time. The letter also mentioned a bizarre incident that has been raging in the city recently.

The incident happened two weeks ago in a colonial town in the west of the Vimur Valley. It is said that in just one night, the town and its surrounding area for several miles were covered with lush vegetation.

The residents of the town, together with the garrison, totaled no less than a thousand people, as if they were all submerged in a green ocean, and have lost contact since then, and their whereabouts are still unknown.

In fact, Joan is no stranger to the town where weird disasters happened.

Last spring, he went to the west to investigate the truth about the death of Captain Anderson. On the way, he stopped in a colonial settlement called "Grizzly Town". He was deeply impressed by the local folk customs.

The town that was engulfed by the green sea this time is Grizzly Town.

Since last year, the Vimur Valley, where Grizzly Town is located, has become the front line of frequent armed conflicts between colonists and aborigines.

Asa hunting horses come and go like the wind, often raiding the settlements established by the colonists along the river bank, trying to curb the westward expansion of the colonists by burning, killing and looting. It is widely circulated in the New World and even the Old World, and is often used by the colonialists who claim to be "civilized people" as an ironclad proof that the aborigines are brutal and unreasonable.

The custom of "headhunting" did originate in the aboriginal tribes of the New World, but few people know that the colonies also have a long history of "headhunting" traditions.

Take the Midgard colony as an example, a decree has been promulgated since the time of Governor Minute: Anyone who hunts and kills an adult Asa will be rewarded with two gold duga, as evidenced by the scalp of the prey.

This decree has been implemented for nearly a century, during which the reward has been increased repeatedly, gradually increasing from 2 gold coins per scalp to 10 gold coins per scalp.

The generous bounty has prompted many adventurers to devote themselves to the bloody sport of hunting down the aborigines, and even promoted the unprecedented prosperity of the industry of "bounty hunters" in the New World.

During this period, several governors also tried to ease relations with the aborigines. For example, Sir Nichols, the current governor of Midgard, once suspended the implementation of the "headhunting decree". The Headhunting Act was also revived with the support of the colonial parliament and the military.

Defenders of the "Headhunting Act" claim that it is a necessary means to control violence with violence, and that barbarians are not educated and can only be suppressed by equally barbaric means.

Joan could not agree with such rhetoric.

The aborigines lived well in their own homes. The colonists came from another continent by boat to beg for a living. At the critical moment of poverty and hunger, they survived thanks to the help of the aborigines. And slandering the other party as a barbarian, who is more barbaric than whom?

If the bloody "headhunting" ceremony represents the barbaric customs of the aborigines, then the colonists deliberately sold virus-infected blankets to the aborigines, causing countless aborigines to be infected with smallpox, and thousands of people died of this disease in just two years Severe infectious diseases, is this kind of behavior a manifestation of "civilization"?

If it is considered a legitimate means of revenge for the colonists to scalp the natives for bounty, then by the same logic, wouldn’t the natives also have the right to intentionally spread the virus in the colonial cities?

This is not Joan's fantasy, but a reality that has indeed happened around him.

This spring, an out-of-season "fever" epidemic broke out in Leiden City. After some investigations, Joan and his friends in his hometown discovered the conspiracy behind the epidemic, and promptly eliminated the source of the epidemic, "Mother of the Plague". Hundreds of thousands of residents of the city were saved from extinction.

The "primitive religious order" that planned this conspiracy was precisely a religious group that was born in the aboriginal community of the New World, and to some extent it could represent the anger and resistance of the aborigines against colonial invasion.

If Joan agrees with those who sing the praises of colonial expansion, then there is no reason to criticize the evil deeds of the "primitive religion" in spreading the virus in Leiden.

Conversely, if the "primitive religious group" is determined to be a cult group, then the fans of colonial expansion are also cult believers. It is nothing more than that the latter has more right to speak, and paints their faces through newspapers, magazines and other channels. civilized people".

In Joan's view, the strange incident that happened in Grizzly Town this time also reflects the "primitive religion"'s extreme advocacy of returning to nature. It is likely that this group of cultists used some kind of magic ritual to change the surrounding area of ​​Grizzly Town. The ecological environment caused the plants to spread wildly, even engulfing this rather prosperous market town.

After the "greening" incident in Grizzly Town, more unbelievable news came one after another.

In just one week, many expedition teams entered Grizzly Town, which was covered by dense forests and vines, and even the sky was shaded by green shades, trying to search and rescue the trapped residents.

For the sake of insurance, some search and rescue teams set up camps outside the town, leaving some teammates to provide logistical support.

For the first two days, the left-behind personnel could keep in touch with the teammates who entered the green sea through the communication magic device. However, after a short time, the teammates stopped replying to the letter and disappeared forever, as if melting in the depths of the mysterious green sea .

The left-behind personnel in the camp outside the town also tried to use the "detection crystal ball" to track the whereabouts of their teammates, but the result made them both terrified and frustrated.

The "detection technique" seems to be blocked by an invisible magic barrier, and it is impossible to lock and track the target at all.

What happened to Grizzly Town, and the status of thousands of local residents, garrisons, and subsequent explorers, these mysteries have become the hotspots of the major newspapers in Midgard City.

Joan was also curious about this incident. When discussing with her mentor and friends, she did not deny that the changes in Grizzly Town were mostly related to the "primitive church". Professor Moriarty, Rebecca, Both Hailaer and Zion also agree with his guess.

However, the evolution of the situation was unexpected. Just three days ago, the "Midgard Tribune" revealed a big news, the original text published a public statement issued by the Volsung tribe.

The Walsung tribe represented Midgard's aboriginal resistance organization "Liberation Alliance", claiming responsibility for the incident in Grizzly Town, and stated that the purpose of controlling Grizzly Town was to warn the colonial government to stop westward expansion, and also demanded that the colonial military Publicly published an apology for the intentional spread of smallpox virus in the aboriginal community, and compensated the victims and their families for their losses.

If the colonial government and the military agree to the above conditions, the Volsunger family promises that Grizzly Town will be restored to its original state, and the local residents will be safe, and they are willing to negotiate an armistice agreement with the colonial government. borders.

one more chapter